Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-3292 by Iain Gray on 26 April 2001, whether the asylum liaison officers appointed by Strathclyde Police were in addition to the existing staff complement and what information has been gathered to date through the monitoring of racial incidents by these officers.

Mr Jim Wallace: Decisions about the deployment of police officers are for the Chief Constable, but I understand that Strathclyde Police’s asylum liaison officers have been appointed from the force’s existing complement of officers. The Scottish Executive does not hold the information gathered by these officers. However, I have asked that the Chief Constable write to the member about this subject.

Autism

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in the establishment of a Scottish Service Network for autistic spectrum disorder and who any members appointed to the network are.

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set out the areas of priority for the Scottish Service Network for autistic spectrum disorder.

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit of the Scottish Service Network for autistic spectrum disorder will be.

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to ensure that the progress of the work carried out by the Scottish Service Network is accurately monitored.

Malcolm Chisholm: The same as you? recommended that the Scottish Society for Autism, supported by the National Autistic Society, should bring together all those with an interest, to set up a national service network for children and adults with autistic spectrum disorder.

  The report identifies local and national priorities to improve support for people with an autistic spectrum disorder. These include continuing improvement in early diagnosis; quick access to information, specialist knowledge and training for professionals providing local services, and widening the range and accessibility of specialist services locally.

  The Scottish Society for Autism was awarded £16,400 to carry out a mapping exercise to collate information on services currently provided in health, education and social work throughout Scotland. The exercise is due for completion by the end of December 2001.

  In addition, the Public Health Institute for Scotland is carrying out a Scottish Needs Assessment Programme, to look at the role of current services across Scotland, and to identify gaps in provision and development needs. Their report is due in the autumn.

  Following completion of these reports, the remit and membership of the network will be a matter for the Scottish Society for Autism, the National Autistic Society and their partner organisations, in consultation with the Scottish Executive.

Autism

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures have been implemented to date as a result of the recommendations in The same as you ?

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answers to questions S1O-3134 and S1W-13979.

Autism

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to local authorities to ensure a coherent approach in supporting adults with autism and Asperger’s syndrome.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14014 on 22 March 2001.

  Guidance to local authorities and health boards on the preparation of Partnership in Practice agreements (PiPs) advised that PiPs should look specifically at the needs of people with autistic spectrum disorder for both mainstream and specialist services.

Autism

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for an awareness campaign to highlight difficulties faced by those with autism and Asperger’s syndrome.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15530 on 16 May 2001.

Birds

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether section 1(1) (b) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 implements in full Article 5(b) of the EU Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds (79/409) in relation to the deliberate destruction of, or damage to, nests and nest sites outwith the breeding season; what advice it has received on this issue from Scottish Natural Heritage and whether it will publish this advice, and whether it has any plans to address any non-implementation of the Directive through its legislative proposals set out in Nature of Scotland.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive considers that section 1 (1) (b) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 fully implements the provisions of Article 5 (b) of Council Directive (79/409/EEC) on the Conservation of Wild Birds, in relation to the deliberate destruction of, or damage to, nests and nest sites outwith the breeding season.

  The Executive has not received specific advice from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on this subject. However, SNH is currently preparing its response to Scottish Ministers on the implications for Scotland of the recommendations contained in the report of the UK Raptor Working Group (RWG), which calls for an investigation of the legal status of nests outside the breeding season and consideration of any changes to national legislation to protect them.

  The Nature of Scotland proposes new offences of reckless disturbance of nesting sites of specially protected species and reckless damage or destruction of nests and eggs.

Consultation Exercises

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation exercises the ministers with responsibility for education have initiated since 1 July 1999.

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-841 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 16 December 1999, what consultation exercises the ministers with policy responsibility for children and education have initiated since December 1999.

Mr Jack McConnell: The consultations initiated by the Minister and Deputy Minister for Children and Education from July 1999 till October 2000:

  The Review of the General Teaching Council for Scotland;

  Improving our Schools – Consultation on the Improvement in Scottish Education Bill;

  Response to Riddell Advisory Committee Report into the Education of Children with Severe Low Incidence Disabilities;

  Young People Leaving Care – Proposed Transfer of DSS Resources to Local Authorities;

  Youth Crime Review;

  Assessment and Testing: Pre-school and 5-14;

  Strategic Framework for Children’s Services – "Planned Outcomes for Better Care";

  Improving our Schools – Consultation on national priorities for schools education in Scotland;

  The Standard for Initial Teacher Education;

  Consultation on the Schools Scotland Code 1956;

  Regulation of Early Education and Childcare: The Way Ahead;

  Guidelines for the Management of Drugs Misuse in Schools;

  Outlook International: Promoting the International Dimension in Scottish Schools;

  Consultation on Good Practice Guidance on the Administration of Medicines in Schools.

  The consultations initiated by the Minister and Deputy Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs since November 2000:

  Collaborative Review of Initial Teacher Education Department;

  Review of Devolved School Management.

Dental Care

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent NHS dentists there currently are, broken down by health board area.

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent NHS dentists there currently are per head of population, broken down by health board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: In answer to questions S1W-15768 and S1W-15769, the number of NHS dentists at June 2000, by health board area and per 100,000 population, is shown in the following table. The table should be read in conjunction with the notes below.

  Number of NHS dentists at June 2000; by health board

  

 

Number of NHS dentists 
  

Per 100,000 population 
  



Scotland 
  

2,597.2 
  

50.8 
  



Ayrshire & Arran 
  

168.4 
  

45.1 
  



Borders 
  

46.1 
  

43.1 
  



Argyll & Clyde 
  

208.4 
  

49.2 
  



Fife 
  

175.1 
  

50.0 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

539.3 
  

59.6 
  



Highland 
  

114.5 
  

54.9 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

240.8 
  

42.8 
  



Grampian 
  

218.6 
  

41.8 
  



Orkney 
  

11.0 
  

56.5 
  



Lothian 
  

429.4 
  

54.8 
  



Tayside 
  

240.4 
  

62.4 
  



Forth Valley 
  

109.5 
  

39.4 
  



Western Isles 
  

20.0 
  

73.6 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

60.8 
  

41.7 
  



Shetland 
  

15.0 
  

66.8 
  



  Notes:

  1. Source: MIDAS dental database (General Dental Practitioners); Medical and Dental Census (Hospital & Community Dentists); ISD Scotland.

  2. Includes General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) and Hospital & Community Dentists. Information for GDPs relates to number, while Hospital & Community Dentists data are counted as whole-time equivalent.

  3. Information is not collected on the working hours of General Dental Practitioners. The figures contained in the table above refer to the number of GDPs in post.

  4. Excludes the State Hospital.

  5. Information is provisional.

Dental Care

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking or plans to take to improve awareness in rural areas, in particular, in Dumfries and Galloway, of the importance of dental health.

Susan Deacon: All areas in Scotland have structured programmes of oral health education. In Dumfries and Galloway this programme is co-ordinated through the Health Promotion Department. Annually these services contact pre-school, nursery and primary school children. In addition they contact key groups such as carers, general dental practitioners, health visitors to ensure consistent information. Dumfries and Galloway has numerous other programmes highlighting the importance of oral health including a toothbrushing programme which involves over 2,300 children in 24 nursery classes and 48 primary schools.

E-Commerce

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the number of people and businesses which purchase goods online.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise are charged with promoting e-business. Both agencies have developed a range of initiatives that encourage businesses to, amongst other things, purchase and sell goods online. A network of ICT local support centres, operating under the UK Online branding, provides support to businesses and aims to help achieve the UK-wide target of having 1 million micro, small and medium-sized enterprises trading online by 2002.

  To help stimulate online purchasing, the Executive is currently considering how adoption of e-procurement methods across the wider Scottish public sector can be facilitated and how they can help drive collaborative procurement.

  For individuals, the Executive is committed to universal access to the web by 2005 and is currently considering what further action is necessary to ensure this is achieved.

Elections

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures have been put in place to prevent its departmental websites from disseminating information that could be of advantage to the governing parties in the forthcoming General Election and whether it will publish any such procedures.

Henry McLeish: Guidance has been issued to all Scottish Executive staff on their role and conduct during the UK General Election campaign. The guidance emphasises that civil servants should not undertake any activity which could call into question their political impartiality and that they should ensure that public resources are not used for party political purposes. These requirements apply to any information published by the Scottish Executive during the General Election campaign, whether on the Scottish Executive website or otherwise. The guidance has been posted on the Scottish Executive website and copies are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Electricity

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit is of its network study group which examines the electricity grid throughout Scotland, who its members are, whether the group is expected to publish any conclusions and, if so, when.

Rhona Brankin: The network study group’s remit is to examine the existing electricity network in Scotland; its potential and constraints; the likely impact of planned network investments, and the possible costs involved in strengthening and upgrading the network.

  The members of the network study group are Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power, the Scottish Renewables Forum, the Inter-University Centre for Economic Renewable Power Delivery, the Scottish Executive and the Department of Trade and Industry.

  The interim report of the group was placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre on 29 November 2000 and the final report will be published in the summer.

Enterprise

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total (a) capital and (b) revenue budget is of each local enterprise company in the current financial year.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The allocation of local enterprise company budgets is an operational matter for Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise. Neither body breaks down its allocations in terms of revenue and capital budgets.

  Initial budget allocations for 2001-02 are set out in the following tables. They will be subject to review during the course of the year and may therefore be amended.

  Highlands and Islands Enterprise

  


Local Enterprise Company Allocations 
  



LEC 
  

£000 
  



Shetland 
  

2,607 
  



Orkney 
  

2,373 
  



Western Isles 
  

4,730 
  



Skye & Lochalsh 
  

1,688 
  



Caithness & Sutherland 
  

4,676 
  



Ross & Cromarty 
  

6,148 
  



Inverness & Nairn 
  

4,315 
  



Moray, Badenoch & Strathspey 
  

3,652 
  



Lochaber 
  

2,270 
  



Argyll and the Islands 
  

7,475 
  



Total 
  

39,934 
  



  Scottish Enterprise

  


Local Enterprise Company Allocations 
  



LEC 
  

£000 
  



Ayrshire 
  

23,208 
  



Borders 
  

7,797 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

8,501 
  



Dunbartonshire 
  

14,800 
  



Fife 
  

18,768 
  



Forth Valley 
  

18,070 
  



Glasgow 
  

49,252 
  



Grampian 
  

21,002 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

38,847 
  



Lothian & Edinburgh 
  

44,688 
  



Moray, Badenoch & Strathspey* 
  

2,303 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

18,425 
  



Tayside 
  

23,622 
  



Total 
  

289,283 
  



  *The Highlands and Islands Enterprise Area of Operation (Scotland) Order 2001 amended the boundary of Highlands and Islands Enterprise with effect from 1 April 2001. As a result, responsibility for Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise (MBSE) now lies solely with Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise’s allocation for MBSE will therefore be transferred to Highlands and Islands Enterprise as part of this year’s Autumn Budget Review.

External Affairs

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, during the First Minister’s recent meeting with President George W Bush, a possible visit to Scotland by the President was discussed.

Henry McLeish: During my meeting with President Bush on April 5 we discussed a number of topics of mutual interest. I took the opportunity of extending an informal invitation to the President to visit Scotland during any future trip to Britain.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish all advice, direction or guidance given to local authorities in respect of the proposed rates relief package for businesses affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Angus MacKay: Guidance was issued to local authorities in Finance Circular No. 1/2001, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. no. 12527).

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-3324 by Ross Finnie on 3 May 2001, what advice it has received from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency regarding the dangers of burning cattle over five years old on funeral pyres.

Ross Finnie: SEPA advised my officials on the suitability of sites for burning FMD cull carcasses, including cattle of all ages, in relation to the protection of the environmental aspects for which they are responsible. In particular, SEPA’s assessments were based on drinking water and groundwater considerations in the locality of potential sites. My officials are in consultation with SEPA over the disposal of ash from pyres which would derive from animals over five years old.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14944 by Jackie Baillie on 30 April 2001, whether it has sought any information from voluntary organisations and charities on the extent of any loss of income which they have incurred due to the cancellation of countryside events because of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak and whether it has any plans to introduce any compensation scheme for such organisations and charities.

Jackie Baillie: The Scottish Executive has established an Economic Impact Assessment Group to identify the effect which foot-and-mouth disease is having across sectors and areas. The Executive is continuing to seek information on the implications of the outbreak on fundraising activities of voluntary organisations. Whilst the Executive is concerned at any implication the outbreak may have had on the voluntary sector, it has no plans to introduce a compensation scheme.

  The Executive recognises that the voluntary sector is playing an important role in helping those most affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. The Minister for Environment and Rural Development announced on 8 May details of the scheme to match donations by members of the public to voluntary organisations engaged in alleviating distress caused by foot-and-mouth disease in Scotland. The scheme will be administered by Scottish Community Foundation on behalf of the Executive.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many premises in the Dumfries and Galloway area have been affected by the pre-emptive foot-and-mouth cull strategy, up to and including 15 May 2001.

Ross Finnie: 996 premises were affected by the sheep, goat and pig cull in the 3km zone.

  130 premises were affected by the policy of culling all susceptible livestock on contiguous farms.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) sheep, (b) cattle and (c) other animals have been slaughtered in the Dumfries and Galloway area under the pre-emptive foot-and-mouth cull strategy, up to and including 15 May 2001.

Ross Finnie: Up to and including 15 May 2001, the following numbers of animals were slaughtered:

  


3km cull 
  



Sheep 
  

361,294 
  



Pigs 
  

63 
  



Goats 
  

 




  


Contiguous Premises 
  



Sheep 
  

47,988 
  



Cattle 
  

18,329 
  



Pigs 
  

8 
  



Goats 
  

8 
  



Other 
  

1

Football

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what account is taken of football clubs’ own financial position in making decisions about the award of public funds to clubs for the establishment of football academies and whether such decisions are subject to any assessment of whether the provision of such assistance to large clubs represents best value.

Allan Wilson: As with all Lottery Fund applications and irrespective of applicant, financial need is a factor considered in determining whether an award is made. Value for money and financial viability, both in capital and revenue terms, are other finance-related factors which are assessed by  sportscotland before it reaches a decision on an application.

Health

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the research it commissioned into racial discrimination in the NHS was ready for publication in November 2000.

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the research it commissioned into racial discrimination in the NHS has not yet been published.

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to publish the research it commissioned on racial discrimination in the NHS.

Susan Deacon: A programme of action-oriented research was commissioned to establish the information and support needed by NHSScotland to meet the needs of people and families from ethnic minority communities. This was not ready for publication in November 2000.

  As part of this, an initial stocktake of work across Scotland was used to identify the distinctive needs of people and families from ethnic minority communities and the action required to address these needs in a proactive manner. Best practice guidance is currently being drafted and discussions are under way to establish how necessary national support can be delivered. This will be issued for consultation over the summer.

Hospitals

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review the decision to close Stobhill Hospital, Victoria Infirmary and the Western Infirmary and what reasons were given by the Chief Executive of Greater Glasgow Health Board and the board itself for their proposed closure.

Susan Deacon: There are no plans to close Stobhill Hospital or the Victoria Infirmary. Greater Glasgow Health Board’s proposal to transfer services at the Western Infirmary to modern facilities at Gartnavel General Hospital and elsewhere in the city, and subsequently to close the Western, was approved in 1996 by the Secretary of State for Scotland at that time.

  The modernisation of acute hospital services in Glasgow is currently under review by the health board. There is ongoing consultation on potential options, and selected options are now being appraised.

Hospitals

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when Stonehouse Hospital in Lanarkshire is scheduled to close, what is planned for the site and when a decision will be made on who will develop the site.

Susan Deacon: Stonehouse Hospital is not closing. Rather, acute services have moved from the Stonehouse site to the New Hairmyres Hospital, while 40 continuing care beds are operational at Stonehouse and x-ray and physiotherapy services also remain in place. There are also proposals to enhance these and other services with a £3 million investment, which is included in the Health Department 2001/2 Capital Programme and will proceed subject to submission of a satisfactory full business case.

Hospitals

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests to meet a delegation from the Save Stobhill Campaign team the Minister for Health and Community Care has received.

Susan Deacon: As at 11 May, the Executive has received around 3,500 pieces of correspondence about the future of Stobhill General Hospital. The Health Department continues to ask Greater Glasgow Health Board to consider these, since public consultation on the review of acute services is primarily a matter for the board. I met with delegates from the Save Stobhill Campaign Team on Thursday 17 May.

Hospitals

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans the Minister for Health and Community Care has to meet delegates from the Save Stobhill Campaign Team.

Susan Deacon: I met with delegates from the Save Stobhill Campaign Team on Thursday 17 May.

Justice

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to bring forward legislation on corporate homicide.

Mr Jim Wallace: Legislation to introduce a new offence of corporate homicide would be a matter for the Scottish Parliament. However any such legislation is likely to have implications for matters which are reserved such as health and safety and Crown immunity.

  The Home Office published a consultation document last year which proposed the introduction of an offence of corporate homicide, together with the abolition of the common law offence of involuntary manslaughter and its replacement by a hierarchy of three offences of reckless killing, killing by gross carelessness and involuntary homicide. I understand that the Home Office is conducting further analysis of the responses received and working with other government departments to agree the policy for England and Wales.

  We are satisfied that the three offences proposed for England and Wales are adequately covered by the Scottish common law offence of culpable homicide. A complementary approach to the prosecution of companies for corporate homicide throughout the UK would be desirable. Scottish Ministers will therefore await the outcome of the Home Office analysis before considering any proposals for change in Scotland.

Justice

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has undertaken, or plans to undertake, with regard to establishing corporate homicide as a crime.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is examining the case for a new statutory offence in this area and will consider a consultation exercise in due course.

Lip Reading

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many qualified lip-reading tutors there were at 31 March in each year since 1997-98, broken down by local authority area.

Nicol Stephen: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many audiologists were in post at 31 March in each year since 1997-98, broken down by health board.

Susan Deacon: The information requested is not available centrally.

Residential Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will decide whether vitamin D supplements will be given to elderly people in long-term care.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive plans to establish an expert group in the near future to provide recommendations on the prescribing of vitamin D supplements.

Road Safety

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to investigate Norfolk County Council’s Quiet Lanes approach to traffic management to establish whether are any lessons for improving safety on country roads.

Sarah Boyack: We have no plans to do this. The Scottish rural road network is different in character to English "quiet lanes". The Transport (Scotland) Act does not include reference to quiet lanes as it was felt that they were not appropriate in the Scottish situation. However, we will monitor research work that DETR has commissioned on "quiet lanes" to see if there are any lessons which could be learned on improving road safety.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15127 by Mr Jack McConnell on 8 May 2001, how many students who had completed, by the end of June 2000, all relevant continuous assessment requirements for their HNC or HND courses are still awaiting receipt of their certificates from the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Scottish Qualifications Authority has issued 32,263 group award, including HNC and HND, certificates to candidates completing their course of study by 31 July 2000, the end of the academic year. It is not possible to provide a figure for candidates who have not yet received certificates, for two main reasons.

  First, a data matching process to reconcile differences between data held by the SQA and by FE colleges has to be completed. That process is now virtually complete: only one college is outstanding, and the processing of its data has been made a priority.

  Second, SQA has identified a number of cases in which college candidates’ reference numbers, which are intended to be unique, have been at least duplicated. The possibility therefore arises that different elements of group awards for a candidate may be held on different reference numbers. A means of merging such duplicated candidate records is being developed urgently with priority given to cases where a group award may be merited, in order that outstanding certificates may be issued.

  FE colleges will, in most cases, have been able to provide students with their results and with provisional confirmation of their award, if needed by prospective employers or other educational institutions.

Teachers

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what work has been carried out by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers with the Scottish Public Pensions Agency to develop details of the proposed winding down scheme for teachers.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers will consider the arrangements for the introduction of the proposed winding down scheme when it considers its draft workplan at its first meeting on 24 April.

Teachers

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timetable is for the introduction of the proposed winding down scheme for teachers.

Mr Jack McConnell: This will be a matter for the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, following consideration of the preliminary work currently being carried out by the Scottish Executive and Scottish Public Pensions Agency.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hotels there are in the Highland Council area and how many of these have a rateable value of over £12,500.

Angus MacKay: There were 2,346 hotels, boarding houses etc. on the valuation roll for the Highland Council area as at 1 April 2000. 311 of these had a rateable value of over £12,000.

Tourism

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what brief was given to the firm used to select candidates for the position of chief executive of VisitScotland and whether ministers were involved in approving that brief.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The firm concerned was invited to search for candidates capable of fulfilling the role described in my answer to question S1W-15445. Ministers were not involved in approving that brief.

Tourism

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many candidates applied for the post of chief executive of VisitScotland and what type of qualifications and experience those who were interviewed had.

Ms Wendy Alexander: 151 candidates applied in response to the newspaper advert which appeared in December 2000 and the initial search. Interviews are still continuing, but I understand that those interviewed so far had experience of running organisations and of marketing.

Tourism

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total (a) capital and (b) revenue budget is of each area tourist board in the current financial year.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The information requested is not held centrally.

Water

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will convene a working group, including representatives of the sectors of industry most likely to be affected, a Scottish Environment Protection Agency representative and a water authority representative, to consider proposals for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive.

Rhona Brankin: We intend to take an open approach to implementing the EC Water Framework Directive consulting extensively with stakeholders. For example, we plan to hold a conference on the Directive in the autumn. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the water authorities, industry representatives and environmental organisations will be among those invited to attend.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Parliament Shop

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what criteria are used to decide on the books to be sold and displayed in the Scottish Parliament shop.

Sir David Steel: Space restraints within the Parliament Shop ensure that only small selections of any product can be stocked. There are a number of other excellent bookshops in the vicinity and book sales make up less than 5% of total Parliament Shop sales. As a result, the current range is restricted to a limited selection of popular titles.

  As with all shop products, the Retail Manager makes the final decision on which titles are stocked with regard to overall retail suitability within the core market. The general public and visitors make the majority of book purchases from the shop and the range of titles in stock has been selected to appeal mainly to this market. It covers Scottish history, modern political writing, a children’s section and some fiction. Scottish history is the most popular section. The shop offers a book ordering service to internal customers which can provide most popular titles on any subject within 24 hours of ordering.

Scottish Parliament Shop

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer why All the First Minister’s Men by David Black is not currently stocked by the Scottish Parliament shop.

Sir David Steel: Books are selected for their retail suitability and quality using the criteria set out in the answer to question S1W-15779.